No hungry kids: LWB kitchen serves thousands of free summer meals
At the Palm Beach County Food Bank’s Boutwell Road facility, culinary volunteers cook hot food that's delivered daily to nearly 40 sites from Jupiter to Boca to Belle Glade
DEEP INSIDE A commercial kitchen in Lake Worth Beach, a team of culinary volunteers is cooking meals to make sure thousands of Palm Beach County children don’t go hungry this summer.
Grain cereal. Manicotti with green beans. Chicken enchiladas with corn. Meatballs made from scratch. Tacos. Hamburgers and tater tots. All served with fruit and milk.
Those are just a few of the daily lunch and breakfast offerings prepared by Chef Doug Barg and his helpers at the Palm Beach County Food Bank’s 28,000 square-foot facility on Boutwell Road.
About 5,000 free meals — roughly double what the food bank provided last summer — have been delivered hot and fresh every day since June 1 to roughly 2,500 children at nearly 40 sites from Jupiter to Boca Raton to Belle Glade.
The food bank’s goal, in partnership with Florida’s Summer BreakSpot program, is to make sure local children have access to nutritious meals while school is out.
“With childhood hunger continuing to impact families across Palm Beach County, programs like Summer BreakSpot play a critical role in ensuring children continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer months,” said Jamie Kendall, the nonprofit food bank’s chief executive officer.
“Thanks to the support of our partners, we are proud to help expand this program and provide even more meals to children across our community this year,” she said.
And it all starts in the food bank’s spacious Michelle Hagerty Community Kitchen where staff and volunteers prepare a menu of breakfast, lunch and snacks.
“What we are trying to do is give kids things they like to eat,’’ said Michael Groover, the nonprofit food bank’s chief financial officer.
The meals are cooked, then “spoodled” into special dishes that are sealed and refrigerated. The next morning, they’re heated in the oven, packed into hot boxes and taken to the meal sites such as community centers, libraries and schools.
“There’s a lot that goes into making this whole thing happen. The people, trucks, hot boxes,’’ Groover said.
“The extra care that goes into sourcing good ingredients to give to the kids has taken a lot of effort from our team. And the reviews I’m getting are that the kids like the food.’’
Meals will be provided until Aug. 7, filling a critical gap for children from economically-challenged families who depend on free meals during the school year. The first day of school is Aug. 10.
“You hit summer time and a lot of these kids have had free breakfasts and free lunch at school. With inflation and family budgets those families are hit hard in the summer time. Providing this service to these sites is really filling a gap for our hardworking families in need,’’ Groover said.
No applications are required for children to receive meals at participating Summer BreakSpot sites. Visit summerbreakspot.org to find meal locations and site schedules.
Volunteers are needed to help prepare meals. Financial contributions are also important, with every dollar donated helping provide five meals to local families, food bank officials said.
To volunteer or make a donation, visit pbcfoodbank.org or call 561-670-2518.
Established in 2012, the food bank helps feed about 192,000 food-insecure residents throughout the county. Food is procured from grocery stores, farmers, food distributors, wholesalers and other sources and distributed to more than 200 local community partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens and schools.
Last year, the food bank served 10.6 million meals.
How is it possible that there is no location of service in Lake Worth Beach?